EUROPEAN FORMATS
3 brand new (+ 1 classic) formats from Germany, Spain and the UK
GERMAN SAILORS
In this newsletter we often talk about creatorsphere formats, i.e. creator-led digital content for digital platforms, which are becoming increasingly important in the new media landscape. We have also pointed out on several occasions that one of the characteristics of this type of content is that it is constantly moving: from one digital platform to another bigger/better/more relevant one, from linear channel to digital channel, from digital channel to linear channel and in other, more multi-layered ways (see "The truth about digital content", FE 22 November).
Mission Unknown: Atlantic, produced by Banijay Productions Germany, has a particularity that seems to mark a paradigm shift: it will premiere on 28th February on Prime Video Germany, and two weeks after it will land on You Tube (generally the path is the opposite).
The format as such does not seem to have any significant novelties and repeats the formula (which it would be time to rename a little) typical of these 'digital formats': An established traditional genre (in this case a reality/competition show set on a ship, very reminiscent to the title of Rabbit Formats' Over the Atlantic), but with the protagonists being social media personalities from the country, headed by the German entertainer and presenter Jens Heinz Richard Knossalla, aka Knossi, who leads his colleagues and friends on an extreme journey across the Atlantic.
The show follows the group as they are split into teams and face a host of difficulties, from torn sails to broken equipment and lack of sleep, as they try to be the first to cross the finish line.
Most interestingly, as mentioned at the beginning, is the 'reverse path' of the format, which later moves from Prime Video to Knossi's own YouTube channel, further evidence of the growing importance of Google's platform in today's media landscape.
SPANISH PLAYERS AND DANCERS
Spain continues to be a very vibrant nation as far as formats are concerned. The following two examples are proof of this: the first is a classic from the past and the second is a very innovative project.
Let's start with Reacción en Cadena, the local adaptation of the US format Chain Reaction, produced by Bulldog TV and distributed by Sony Pictures Television, which has been renewed by Mediaset España for another 65 episodes. This classic game show - originally launched by NBC in the United States in 1980 and which has had several adaptations (including in Italy, where it is currently broadcast during the summer) - will be broadcast from December 2022 as one of the daily afternoon programmes on Telecinco, from Monday to Friday.
This game, which is mainly based on logical questions, pits two teams of three people (friends, family, colleagues, etc.) against each other in various challenges to solve word chains and accumulate money to win a daily jackpot of up to 150.000€.
Despite its good results, it does not come close to its rival in this time slot, Pasapalabra (Antena 3), which dominates to the point of doubling its share.
The second is Dancing With Robots, a project by Beta Entertainment Spain in collaboration with Boomerang TV and Phileas. As the title suggests, it is a dance talent show between humans and artificial intelligence robots, in which eight celebrities will have to dance different choreographies in front of a jury of experts with atypical dance partners: autonomous robots powered by AI.
A pilot episode was produced at the end of 2024 with the Spanish production company Boomerang, apparently with good results, as the project seems to have already been optioned by several countries.
BRITISH NEIGHBOURHOODS
ITV has recently announced an interesting brand new entertainment format, The Neighbourhood, developed by Lifted Entertainment alongside The Garden (both part of ITV Studios) and hosted by the BAFTA- award- winning Graham Norton (pic).
Here is how the broadcaster presents the format: “This brand new 12-part series offers a gameshow as you’ve never seen it before. It marries high-stakes competition, epic challenges and relatable domestic drama, to offer a different flavour of reality […]. The Neighbourhood will see real-life households from all walks of life move in side by side, finding themselves not only neighbours but also fierce competitors in the ultimate reality showdown.
This is a game the households will live as well as play. They’ll be with each other 24/7, sleeping and eating in their houses, socialising between them - and then voting each other out. The challenges they face in public will change the dynamics behind closed doors. And to win, they’ll need to defeat their neighbours, while still staying popular on the street”.
The project seems interesting, at least on paper: in practice, it combines the curiosity of peeking 'behind closed doors' with the dynamics of reality show; or, from the opposite perspective, it is a reality show with a 'heightened sense of reality'.
(A final comment: the various press reviews have proposed many definitions for the genre of this format, some of them very imaginative and complicated. One is enough, a very simple one: 'reality show', which is a beautiful and evergreen genre, but whose name unfortunately no longer seems attractive).
NEWS IN A NUTSHELL
Seven.One Studios International announced yesterday that it will distribute The Hunt (w/t): commissioned by Channel 4 in the UK, produced by CPL Productions and GroupMo Motion Entertainment and based on an original idea by Redseven Entertainment. It is a heart-pounding, high-stakes game of predator versus prey, where the only rule is to hunt or be hunted. And where survival isn't just about being the fastest. It's about being the smartest.
ITV has acquired the rights to Norwegian hit The Box, produced by Seefood TV, which debuted earlier this year and has already secured a second series in its home country.
ICI Radio-Canada Télé has commissioned a local version of UK quizshow format One Question for French-language audiences.
Brazilian broadcaster Record TV has given the green light to competitive reality show 99 to Beat, a local adaptation of the Belgian format created by VRT and De Chinezen and distributed by Primitives.
All3Media International has licensed the rights for Studio Lambert’s British reality series Rise and Fall to Banijay Asia to produce an Indian adaptation for Amazon MX Player.
A+E Networks’ partnership with TV personality, author and philanthropist Rachael Ray and Intentional Content’s Free Food Studios is continuing with Instant Italian, a new culinary series for the network group’s Home.Made.Nation lifestyle programming block.
Tv Asahi and Smart Dog Media started the production of their new talent competition show Song vs Dance.
Thank you, Axel - another great newsletter !